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JOHANN MOST by Emma Goldman Johann Most is one of the more misunderstood ! gures in U.S. anarchist history. His reputation is shaped by a legacy of vili! cation in the mainstream press, with the foreign-born Most being the target of JOHANN MOST relentless attacks by the newspapers of his day. In Most, the forces of capitalism and order found the stereotype of the wild-eyed anarchist bent on destruction. by Emma Goldman While Most was indeed an advocate of violent revolution, he did far more than just sling violent rhetoric. Most was a tireless anarchist organizer, for years publishing the German language Freiheit, touring the United States on the lecture circuit, and contributing to development of the anarchist movement. In the early 1880s when Most arrived in the United States, he immediately set out to build a stronger anarchist movement, launching a successful lecture tour that resulted in the formation of many new groups. The portrait of Johann Most as an anarchist dedicated to the building of an anarchist movement has largely been lost, as even historians of anarchism have focused on his rhetoric. And while by all accounts he had great rhetorical powers, there is more to Most than just his legacy of ery speeches. This zine presents a biographical essay about Most by Emma Goldman, originally published in The American Mercury. It is notable for its profoundly human portrayal of Most, providing a biographical sketch and evaluating his role in the movement. The essay is accompanied by a critical introduction that explores how Most has been portrayed over the years. anarchist history nerd brigade http://anarchisthistory.noblogs.org Introduction Johann Most was one of the most prominent and important fi gures in the anarchist space in the United States during the last two decades of the 19 th century. Most—who had gained a reputation in Europe as a harsh critic of capitalism and parliamentary socialism—was an ardent revolutionary, delivering speeches and writing articles in his Freiheit newspaper advocating the necessity of revolution. In response to growing repression in Europe, Most immigrated to the United States and inserted himself into the German anarchist movement. From his arrival in the United States in 1882, Most had a notorious reputation in the mainstream press. He was constantly vilifi ed and belittled, becoming a lightning rod for anti-anarchist and nativist attacks. Most became the personifi cation of the wild-eyed, bomb throwing anarchist, being an example of the “anarchist beast” so often portrayed in the media of the day. 1 In Most, the forces of order and capitalism found the perfect enemy: a foreign-born anarchist advocating for violent action. Most was targeted by law enforcement, spending time in both jail and in prison. His son, John Most Jr. recalled his family was regularly harassed as they walked through their poor working-class neighborhood. 2 Most was without a doubt a fi ery orator, and his militancy was no joke. He was after all, the anarchist who wrote the notorious Revolutionary War Science, a pamphlet outlining how to make dynamite bombs. Of Most’s speaking style, Chaim Weinberg recalls: “To convey the manner in which Most spoke is impossible. Only those lucky enough to have heard him sometime will really understand the veracity of my claim. To say that Most could inspire an audience is not enough. He electrifi ed, simply enchanted each listener, whether an adversary or a friend”3 and: “I don’t exaggerate one bit. Johann Most could so mesmerize his listeners that they would at any time go with him should he call them to man the barricades. He 26 3 could bring the apathetic person to tears with his hypnotizing power.” 4 The majority of portrayals of Johann Most fail to capture this. While they may acknowledge that he had a powerful personality, they don’t delve into the particulars, instead choosing to highlight the ways in Most—and he is almost always assigned exclusive responsibility— brought the anarchist movement into “disrepute.” 5 His propaganda and “explicit incitement... contributed to anarchists’ being held responsible for any violent disturbances.” 6 He is described as “obsessed by revolutionary violence,” discussing it “...with the sinister enthusiasm of a malevolent and utterly irresponsible child.” 7 He was described as “anxiously waiting for some terrorist act to be committed in Germany or Austria to bolster up the enthusiasm of his congregation.” 8 It’s no accident that the one English language biography of Most is titled The Voice of Terror .9 These portrayals persist into the present, with books on terrorism often including at least a cursory mention of Most’s advocacy of violent revolution.10 However, beyond the rhetoric, Johann Most had a substantial infl uence on anarchism in the United States. He was a strong organizer, for years publishing his newspaper Freiheit, touring the country on the lecture circuit, and dedicating himself to the pursuit of anarchy. It is telling that one of Most’s fi rst acts when coming to the United States was to hit the lecture circuit, a tour that resulted in the formation of a number of anarchist groups. 11 Unfortunately, the legacy of Most as a tireless anarchist dedicated to the revolution is a portrayal that is often ignored. Paul Avrich’s excellent The Haymarket Tragedy is one of the best English language sources to delve into this history, discussing Most’s role in facilitating the spread of anarchism, the establishment of the International Working People’s Association (IWPA), and his infl uence on the anarchists in Chicago who would become forever associated with the Haymarket incident. 12 Still, it retains the view of Most as a rather simplistic thinker—a “polemicist rather than a thinker” who could incite with slogans, but developed little by way of original revolutionary theory. 13 Arguably, Most’s writings have somewhat fallen into obscurity, but they have been consistently circulated over the years, with new generations of anarchist publishing his writings. 14 There has 4 25 after the abrogation of the Exceptional Laws, were replaced by green- also been some renewed interest in Most, with Tom Goyen’s excellent grocers and butchers, who fl ocked to America for her gold and not Beer and Revolution presenting a much more complete portrait of both in search of her imaginary freedom. On the other hand, the earlier Most and the German anarchist space in the United States.15 German immigrants became weary of the struggle, and their children were Americanized. They had nothing of the independent quality of Most’s legacy has also been largely one of personality confl icts, of their parents and were quickly absorbed by what is coarse and common which his feud with the anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander in the new land. Gradually Most found himself a general without an Berkman has been central. Historical assessments of Johann Most army, a prophet without disciples, an alien in his environment. Yet tend to portray him as a short-tempered and intolerant person, the man’s spirit could not be broken. He died a fi ghter to the end. largely making his personal life into an extension of his fi ery media constructed image. For example, Alex Wexler describes Most as “... an autocrat—vain, theatrical, domineering, short-tempered, intolerant of difference, given to fi erce rages and smoldering resentments.” 16 James Joll similarly highlighted Most’s involvement in bitter confl icts. 17 Of these confl icts, none has received more attention than his feud with Emma Goldman. Goldman and Most were both comrades and lovers in the 1880s. However, they drifted apart over the years, with Goldman aligning with the autonomist faction of German anarchists, a group that was hostile to Most’s dominance of the movement and advocating a slightly different tactical orientation in favor of small groups. 18 Most and the autonomist camp were bitter rivals, with Alexander Berkman once stating that the feud between Joseph Peukert of the autonomists and Johann Most was the only thing keeping the two factions alive. 19 Importantly, Goldman criticized Most for his conservative views on gender and the overall male dominance of the German anarchist space.20 However, the act that made them into bitter enemies—or as the story is often told—was Alexander Berkman’s 1892 attempt to assassinate businessman Henry Clay Frick for his role in the Homestead Strike. Goldman was in complete support of the act, helping with its conception and the propaganda in defense of it, 21 while her comrades in the autonomist faction also expressed support. 22 Most was opposed to the act and criticized it after the fact. Less often discussed is that Most had been moderating his views on violence for some time.23 Six weeks before Berkman’s attentat, Most had published an article in Freiheit criticizing violent tactics wherein violence was an end in itself. 24 Similarly, while he did denounce 24 5 and ridicule Berkman in speeches, Freiheit , and the capitalist press, particular act of Czolgosz. Had Most not omitted the signature of the he did eventually write a piece that more seriously refl ected on the author and the date when the article was originally written, the attempt failure of attentants to generate public sympathy. 25 Goldman— to send him to prison again could not have been based on that issue probably rightly— continued to criticize him, leading to the famous of his publication. As it was, he was condemned to Blackwell’s Island “horsewhipping” incident in which she publicly demanded that Most for the third time. Thus for thirty successive years he was hounded. provide evidence of his charges against Berkman.
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